


Five Times Mac's Autism Came Up Without Issue and One Time Someone Made it an Issue

by mothicalcreatures (laelreenia)



Series: Mac's Rats (one-shots) [4]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Ableism, Autism, Autistic MacGyver, Friendship, Gen, Neurodiversity, it's just a small scene at the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-20
Updated: 2016-11-20
Packaged: 2018-09-01 02:52:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8604310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laelreenia/pseuds/mothicalcreatures
Summary: A handful of snippets about various times that Mac's autism has come up.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Murf1307](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Murf1307/gifts).



“Have you ever been diagnosed with autism?” Mac’s therapist asked.

“Not formally,” Mac said. “I was diagnosed with ADHD as a kid, but my last therapist thought that might have been a misdiagnosis.”

“But you’ve never sought a formal diagnosis?”

“I’ve never really thought I needed one, knowing is enough for me. A formal diagnosis isn’t going to change my life in any significant way.”

His therapist nodded. “I see, well I suppose if that’s what works for you.”

 

“Wait you’re autistic?”

Mac nodded. He was over at Riley’s apartment helping her set up a new cage for her rats, the first one she’d bought had been too small.

“Huh, I wouldn’t have known,” Riley said.

“People tend to have a very skewed perspective of what it means to be autistic,” Mac said.

“True,” Riley said. “Is that why you got Pip and Mickey?”

“Not really, I got them primarily because of my PTSD,” Mac said. “Anything else is just an added benefit.”

“I still think you should have gone with a reptile.”

Mac chuckled. “Says the one who impulse adopted two rats.”

“I will admit I have a heightened appreciation for rodents because of your... giant pouched not-quite-rats, but I still want a lizard some day or a snake.”

“Snakes eat mice and rats, you know.” 

Riley paused. “Lizard, then.”

Mac opened his mouth but Riley cut him off.

“Don’t you dare tell me that some lizards eat meat.”

“Well they do.”

Riley groaned. “Mac...”

“Sorry,” Mac said, though he was grinning. 

 

“Bad brain day?” Bozer asked, upon coming out into the living room and finding Mac lying facedown on the couch. 

Mac mumbled something into the couch cushion. 

“One more time, maybe with your face not buried in the couch?”

Mac sighed and lifted his head. “Rough mission, brain needed to clock out for a bit.”

Bozer nodded, clearly a little unsure what else to say. 

Mac lay his head down again, though turned to the side this time. “I’m really glad I can talk to you about everything now.”

“Yeah me too,” Bozer said, dropping down into a chair. “Still wish you’d told me sooner.”

“I know,” Mac said. “And this isn’t me trying to make excuses, but you know how black and white I get about rules sometimes. And there really are serious protocols in place about covers.”

Bozer sighed. “I guess I understand that, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“That’s fair,” Mac said. “I really am sorry.”

Bozer sighed again. “I know, it’s just… gonna take me a while. Now I’m going to be worried about you dying every time you get called in to work.”

“Not every mission is as terrifying as the ones you’ve seen,” Mac said.

Bozer raised an eyebrow at Mac, clearly not believing Mac’s attempt to placate him, then a thought struck him and his eyes went wide. “Wait, wait, wait… hold up, when Nikki ‘died,’ you got hurt. You were in the hospital. I’m assuming the injury was real, but what actually happened?”

Mac grimaced. Bozer had been told that Mac had broken his collarbone. Mac didn’t really want to have this conversation while his brain wasn’t working, but he should come clean about it. He took a deep breath. “I was hurt, but it wasn’t-” he sighed. “I didn’t have a broken collarbone. I got shot.”

“You got shot?!” Bozer squawked.

Mac nodded, grimace still on his face.

Bozer gaped at Mac. “ _Jesus_. I mean I knew the job was dangerous, hell, I’ve _seen_  you get shot at… but I didn’t… shit, man.” 

Mac was quiet, not really sure if there was anything else he could say. 

Bozer was quiet for several moments as well, before he finally spoke. “I’m gonna fuss over you every time you come home from a mission now, you know that right? At least for a while.”

Mac let out a sigh of relief. “If it makes you worry less, you can fuss over me.”

“Alright, and we’re going to talk more about this when your brain’s not being stupid a'ight?”

Mac chuckled. “Thank you.”

“No prob. You have a stressful job, I can see why your brain feels the need to clock out sometimes.”

“Remember you work at the same place I do now.”

“Yeah, but I work in a cushy ass lab, you run around and get shot at.”

Mac grinned lightly. “That is true.”

 

“How you feeling Mac?” Jack asked dropping down on the couch next to Mac and draping an arm over Mac’s shoulders. “It’s been a rough few days. Two missions back to back, plus the stuff with Bozer, you doing alright?”

“I’m alright,” Mac said, leaning into Jack and resting his head on Jack’s shoulder. “My brain’s playing radio static on repeat but…” He shrugged a bit. At least it was only radio static. 

Jack nodded. “Could be worse,” he said, echoing Mac’s thoughts.

“Yeah, I don’t question the brain stuff anymore, it just happens, sometimes I can put a name to the symptoms, sometimes I can’t.” 

“Do you feel better being able to put a name to symptoms?”

Mac groaned. “You sound like my therapist.”

“Well do you?” Jack asked, running his fingers through Mac’s hair.

“Not really,” Mac said. “I don’t know, I don’t really think about it. It’s not like I’m trying to figure out something new, I’ve been dealing with this stuff for years before I even knew I was autistic. I just understand it better now because I have a name to put to it that fits in a way that the misdiagnosis of ADHD never did.”

 

“Mac your therapist put something concerning on your most recent psych eval,” Thornton said, seating herself across from Mac. 

Mac frowned. He couldn’t think of anything that would be cause for concern. If anything he’d felt like he was improving since he’d gotten his emotional support rats. 

“You passed,” Thornton continued. “But she’s recommended you for a full reevaluation ‘just in case’.”

Mac frowned. “What does that mean?”

“It means she wants you retested and potentially rediagnosed, basically you’d have to go through all the tests you did when you were first hired,” Thornton said. “Now I don’t think that’s necessary, but I would like to know why she does.”

Mac sighed. “It’s probably because I refused to get a formal diagnosis for my autism. I never got it formally diagnosed from the therapist I had through DSX. We’d just talked about it, ran through the DSM criteria, but it was never formal, never made it onto any records.”

“Have you discussed the autism with your current therapist?”

Mac nodded. “Yeah, it’s come up, it was one of the reasons she pushed me getting an emotional support animal. It hasn’t been an issue I don’t understand why it’s being brought up now.”

“I’m not sure,” Thornton said. “That might be something to bring up at your next meeting with her. For now I’m going to ignore her note. You have a good grip on your mental health and I trust you to tell me if you ever feel like you don’t. I don’t think it’s necessary for you to jump through all those hoops again.”

Mac nodded. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Thornton said. “If this continues or if this creates problems with your therapy let me know and I’ll get you assigned to a different therapist. I know it’s not the easiest thing to bounce between therapists, but better you have one that works for you than one that doesn’t entirely.”

“Yeah, I’ll let you know, thank you again.”

 

“Why did you recommend me for reevaluation?”

“Because it’s important that all your disorders be on record,” Mac’s therapist said.

“Then just mark it down I don’t need to be completely rediagnosed and retested for just that one thing.”

“I can’t do anything without proof that you were diagnosed. Since your last therapist did not leave record of that diagnosis you need to be retested.”

Mac groaned. This was so not how he wanted this to go. “Look can’t you just take my word for it? I mean, I’m pretty sure I know my brain better than you do.”

Mac’s therapist raised an eyebrow. “You might think you do, but as a therapist I have a better wealth of knowledge than you do.”

Mac stared at his therapist in disbelief for several moments before getting to his feet. “I think our working relationship is over. I won’t be seeing you anymore.”

He turned to leave the room, but he paused as he got to the door. “Oh, and by the way, have fun looking for a new job.” Outside the room, he pulled out his phone to call Thornton.

**Author's Note:**

> The fic about Mac's emotional support rats: [Rodentia](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8465692)  
> The fic about Riley's rats: [a rodent of her own](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8511361)
> 
> Fun fact: The Bozer section of this was written prior to Chisel coming out, and I totally called it that they'd have him end up working at the Phoenix Foundation.


End file.
